Monthly Archives: July 2013

Belgium National Day: The Rest of the Family

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The Royal Hats Blog

The entire Belgium Royal Family was on hand today to celebrate National Day and witness the swearing in of new King Philipe (see Queen Fabiola, Queen Paola and Queen Mathilde in this post).  Philipe’s sister, Princess Astrid, wore a pink Chanel bouclé suit and matching textured fabric pillbox hat, trimmed with large flat bow at the back. Astrid’s fashion and hat choices in the past have tended toward the bold (and avant garde) and this look seemed unexpectedly demure.

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Astrid’s eldest daughters, Princess Maria Laura and Princess Luisa Maria, both wore pink fascinators. Maria Laura was in a pink and blue mass of loops with a blue net bow; Luisa Maria wore a pink base covered in silk roses in varying shades of pink with green net and pink feathers. Both fascinators were fussy, fun, lighthearted and slightly crazy- all the things that a fascinator should be. I thought they were great choices for these two young royal women.

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Princess Claire, wife of the King’s brother Prince Laurent, also chose a dress and jacket by Natan with a Fabienne Delvigne designed folded asymmetrical straw apricot-coloured hat. It looked like a stylized rose bloom to me and I think paired well with her patterned dress. I have waffled back and forth about this hat all day, wondering if it’s too off balance… in the end I have decided to like it.

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For the military parade, Princess Claire removed her jacket and changed into a cream coloured straw hat with ribbon and bow around the crown also designed by Fabienne Delvigne. It’s a perfect summer hat and I thought it was lovely on her.

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Princess Léa (wife of King Albert’s late step-brother Prince Alexander seated behind Princess Claire to the left), wore a feathery pink fascinator. It coordinated perfectly with her tailored pink suit and looked great with her hair in a chignon. It was an understated look but I thought it was very elegant

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All in all, it was a great day of hats in Belgium. Which one was your favourite?

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Photos from Getty as indicated 

Three Queens in Belgium

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The Royal Hats Blog

Belgium celebrated National Day today along with the installation of a new King and Queen (if you haven’t already heard, King Albert of Belgium abdicated in favour of his son, Prince Philipe). Compared to the coronations we’ve seen in some other countries, this was a comparatively low-key affair without any foreign royals present but there still were some wonderful hats!

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The new Queen, Belgium-born Queen Mathilde, looked her usually elegant self in a white Natan dress and rose beige hat by Fabienne Delvigne. According to the designer, the hat is named “Envolé” (which means flying) and “is made ​​from a blend of fibers of abaca and silk. The draped shape is reinforced with two asymmetrical sides and is made ​​from a carved openwork fabric. The hat is in beige color powder.”  I thought the shape had a lovely sense of movement and that the colour and the style of this hat was beautiful on Mathilde. It is simply stunning!

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Queen Paola (the outgoing queen, who retains her title but takes on a sort of Queen Mum role) was also in a Natan designed suit and Fabienne Delvigne designed hat. Her hat, a mocha brown straw classic pillbox, featured a criss-cross design. I was a little underwhelmed by the hat and did not think it complimented her green flowered dress and jacket very well (what exactly do “x”es have to do with pretty green flowers? I don’t get it). My quibbles aside, Paola looked very nice. She really should wear green more often because it is beautiful on her.

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Queen Fabiola (Queen Paola’s sister-in-law, dowager of King Baudouin) did not wear a hat. Dressed in bright pink, however, she joined Queen Mathilde and Queen Fabiola to create a poignant, unique and vibrant royal picture. While there have been other nations with three queens at once, Belgium is the only nation today able to make such a claim.

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The entire Belgian Royal attended today’s important celebration- you can see hats worn by other family members in this post. 

Photos by Getty as indicated

The Queen Catches Some Cricket

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Queen Elizabeth visited Lord’s Cricket Ground for the first day of the second test between England and Australia today. To meet members of the Marlybourne Cricket Club along with players from the English and Australian teams, the Queen repeated a bright turquoise blue straw hat with a diagonal crown, side split brim and side straw bow. The hat is fine although I’m not a fan of the white figure eight buckle (even though it coordinates with the circle motif on the Queen’s dress and jacket) and the side split on the brim seems unnecessarily fussy. My quibbles about this hat aside, I do think the turquoise blue  is a spectacular colour on Her Majesty. What do you think of this hat?

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Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan
Previously Worn:  July 24, 2012 and July 4, 2010

Photos from Getty as indicated

Birthday of the Duchess of Cornwall

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The Duchess of Cornwall (née Camilla Shand, previously Parker Bowles) celebrates her 66th birthday today. Camilla has officially been in royal life for eight years, although her presence um… on the sidelines, shall we say, makes it feel like it has been much longer. Past scandal aside, Camilla has proven herself to be a hardworking and personable member of the British Royal Family who genuinely cares and is involved with the charities she supports. With the help of British milliner Philip Treacy, she has also emerged as a MAJOR royal hat wearer known her large brimmed, dramatic and feathered hats. It’s nearly impossible to find Camilla wearing a hat without feathers; to celebrate her birthday today, I thought we’d  look back at one of her most prolific feathered headpieces. This headpiece was last seen at Zara Philip’s wedding in 2011 and I think it is just marvelous.

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Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: July 30, 2011; June 14, 2008

Photo from Getty as indicated

The Queen and Princess Royal in Cumbria

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Queen Elizabeth visited  Kendal and Lake Windemere in Cumbria today, accompanied by her daughter, Princess Anne, the Princess Royal.  The Queen looked happy and relaxed on this visit (she even joked with a young schoolgirl that she hoped her new great grandchild would hurry up and arrive before she leaves on holiday!) for which she repeated a jade green straw hat with side spray of flowers and feathers. This is a lot of strong colour but I still really like this hat- it’s a great shape and I love the subtle diagonal straw weave and royal blue centered silk flowers. While it’s a strong look, it’s quite striking.

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Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan
Previously Worn: July 5, 2013; July 22, 2012; July 19, 2011; and May 17, 2011

Princess Anne’s hat, a classic shaped yellow hat with slightly relaxed brim and bow around the crown, is a familiar one….

… from her daughter Zara’s christening in 1981!! It looks in remarkably good shape for its age (32 years). I think this hat sets a new record here on the blog as the hat kept in royal service for the longest time.

Designer: I believe it is John Boyd
Previously Worn: June 16, 1998; July 27, 1981

Photos from REX/Shutterstock; Lord Litchfield